這廂有禮

RED IS THE WARMEST COLOUR

喜慶的包裝、吉利的意頭、相伴的祝福……春節(jié)禮物是一種含蓄的語言和信號(hào)，我們把情誼與心意深深地飽含其中。

Festive packaging, auspicious meanings together with blessings…the Chinese New Year gift is a subtle language and symbol, enveloping profound friendship and kinship.

Text by Peter Translation by Leo Photo by Zeng Jian, Chen Yihang, Wang Yusheng & CFP

Besides special decorations and delicious food, gifts make a good reason for us to look forward to the Spring Festival when old and young at home or at work will exchange gifts expressing their best New Year wishes to each other.

“Gong Hey Fat Choy” in Cantonese (“Gong Xi Fa Cai” in Mandarin or “Congratulations and Prosperity” in English) is one of the most heard phrases in Guangdong during the Chinese Spring Festival.With this greeting often comes one of the most important gifts during the festival D “Hong Bao” or “Li Shi” (“red envelope”) which means good fortune in the New Year.The term could be found in The Book of Changes and A Study on Customs and Proverbs, a book written during the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368).

Red envelopes decorated with auspicious patterns and lucky words did not come into widespread use until several decades ago.Previously, people cut a large piece of red paper into small squares in which copper coins or cash was wrapped.That's why many elderly people still say “red paper” instead of the more popular name of “red envelope”.In days when copper coins were used, the elderly would often wrap in the red paper dozens of copper coins or a silver coin, symbolising “l(fā)ongevity” and “a ten thousand-fold pro fi t with a small capital”, respectively.After paper money appeared, people preferred to put new banknotes in sequential order into red envelopes as a symbol of their wishes for kids to make progress in their studies.

Generally, giving red envelopes is a “married privilege”.At home, married people should give red packets to children (and this can be done any time on or before the Lantern Festival); between friends, the married should give red envelopes to singles; when dining out, diners should give tips to waiters or waitresses (remembering tipping is not a social norm in China); and the fi rst day back at work from Spring Festival holidays, employees are often given a red packet by their employers.All these mean the same thing D to wish a very smooth year ahead.

Now more people of Guangdong choose to give practical items such as New Year presents to their families and friends, though some traditional customs of giving small gifts as a token of friendship and love are also well preserved.

When paying a visit to a friend or relative's house, you'd better take with you some tangerines.In Cantonese dialect, “Gan” (tangerine) and “Jin”(gold) are homophones, so are “Ju” (tangerine) and “Ji” (lucky).So giving tangerines as gifts is to wish one good luck and good fortune.Nevermind the amount of tangerines you take, be sure that the number is not odd.When you take leave, your host will keep two of the tangerines and give two of his own to you as a symbol of exchanging wishes for a good fortune.Therefore, the tradition of visiting relatives, friends and others during the Chinese Spring Festival is said, among the masses, to be a “tangerine exchange movement”.So some joked that if one left home with two tangerines in his pocket, he came back home with two new ones.

As lineage plays an important part in their lives, the Cantonese will always remember to prepare special gifts for their ancestors at this time of the year.On the fi rst day of the Lunar New Year, many traditional families will pick an auspicious hour to hold an ancestral worship ceremony on which fresh fl owers, tea, liquor and food are offered and family members pay honour and respect to ancestors according to seniority.

“恭喜發(fā)財(cái)”是春節(jié)期間在廣東出現(xiàn)頻率最高的一句話，伴隨這句問候語的是春節(jié)中最重要的禮物——利是。“利是”即為紅包，又稱“利事”“利市”，取其大吉大利、好事連連之意。“利市”一詞早在《易經(jīng)》中便有記載，帶有本少利多的意思。元代《俗諺考》亦提及“為了吉兆，要向主家討個(gè)利市”的說法，由此可見，利市亦有好運(yùn)的意義。

現(xiàn)在常見的印有吉祥話的利是封其實(shí)只有數(shù)十年的歷史。以前人們是用一大張紅紙裁成小方塊，然后把錢包在紅紙里，封成利是，所以到了今天還是有很多老人家以“紅紙”作為利是的代名詞。舊時(shí)，給長(zhǎng)輩的紅紙里會(huì)包一百文銅錢，寓意“長(zhǎng)命百歲”，放一枚銀元的紅紙則寓意“一本萬利”。改為紙幣后，長(zhǎng)輩們喜歡將票面號(hào)碼相連的新鈔票包給孩子，祝愿他們“連連高升”。

一般來說派利是是已婚人士的“特權(quán)”，從大年初一到元宵節(jié)前都可派發(fā)。過年派利是，目的是花錢花得開心。利是派出去的時(shí)候，一定要見到笑臉。新年期間，除了長(zhǎng)輩為孩子派發(fā)利是，給未婚的朋友派利是，去酒樓吃飯為服務(wù)員派發(fā)利是，節(jié)后上班的第一天，公司還會(huì)派開工利是，取其凡事順利的意頭。

拜年的人，無論帶多少禮物，柑桔都是不可少的。由于廣東話“柑”與“金”、“桔”與“吉”諧音，送柑桔就表示吉利。柑桔多少?zèng)]有關(guān)系，但不能是奇數(shù)。臨走時(shí)，主人會(huì)從來者的禮物中留下兩個(gè)，然后取出自家柑桔交換，意在互贈(zèng)吉祥。因此，民間有稱年初的拜年禮俗為“換柑運(yùn)動(dòng)”。這樣的送禮習(xí)俗也被有人幽默的稱拜年者只需在褲兜里裝上兩個(gè)柑桔，一一拜年后，褲兜里依然是裝著兩個(gè)柑桔不變。